capacity

[kuh-pas-i-tee]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR capacity ON THESAURUS.COM

noun, plural ca·pac·i·ties.

the ability to receive or contain: This hotel has a large capacity.

the maximum amount or number that can be received or contained; cubic contents; volume: The inn is filled to capacity. The gasoline tank has a capacity of 20 gallons.

power of receiving impressions, knowledge, etc.; mental ability: the capacity to learn calculus.

actual or potential ability to perform, yield, or withstand: He has a capacity for hard work. The capacity of the oil well was 150 barrels a day. She has the capacity to go two days without sleep.

quality or state of being susceptible to a given treatment or action: Steel has a high capacity to withstand pressure.

position; function; role: He served in the capacity of legal adviser.

legal qualification.

Electricity.

capacitance.
maximum possible output.

adjective

reaching maximum capacity: a capacity audience; a capacity crowd.

Origin of capacity

1375–1425; late Middle English capacite < Middle French < Latin capācitāt- (stem of capācitās), equivalent to capāci-, stem of capāx roomy (cap(ere) to hold + -āci- adj. suffix) + -tāt- -ty²

Can be confusedability capacity

Synonyms for capacity

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR capacity ON THESAURUS.COM

2. dimensions, amplitude. 3. endowment, talent, gifts. 4. aptitude, adequacy, competence, capability.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for capacity

scope, space, quantity, size, readiness, strength, talent, power, facility, capability, efficiency, skill, competence, extent, proportions, sweep, measure, contents, retention, dimensions

Examples from the Web for capacity

Contemporary Examples of capacity

Specifically, the pilots got themselves into a high altitude stall, where the wings lose the capacity to provide lift.
Flight 8501 Poses Question: Are Modern Jets Too Automated to Fly?
Clive Irving
January 4, 2015
Foxx says that he thinks this generation has the capacity to keep pushing through racial barriers.
Jamie Foxx: Get Over the Black ‘Annie’
Stereo Williams
December 20, 2014
First up is the larger wash still, its capacity ranging from 25,000 to 30,000 liters.
When It Comes to Great Whisky, The Size of Your Still Matters
December 9, 2014
We are overwhelmed with data from every quarter, and our capacity to filter fact from fraud is limited.
The Facts About Ferguson Matter, Dammit
Doug McIntyre
December 3, 2014
It was beyond the capacity of any human cryptologist to decipher the signals.
The Castration of Alan Turing, Britain’s Code-Breaking WWII Hero
Clive Irving
November 29, 2014

Historical Examples of capacity

I have an abiding faith in their capacity, integrity and high purpose.
United States Presidents' Inaugural Speeches
Various
Be it considered, also, that men often overestimate their capacity for evil.
Fancy's Show-Box (From "Twice Told Tales")
Nathaniel Hawthorne
It is not a question of His giving, but of my capacity to take.
The Conquest of Fear
Basil King
In growth all is adjusted to capacity; it is not meant to shock, force, or frighten.
The Conquest of Fear
Basil King
There is a fascination in this view in its capacity for change.
Yorkshire Painted And Described
Gordon Home

British Dictionary definitions for capacity

capacity

noun plural -ties

the ability or power to contain, absorb, or hold

the amount that can be contained; volumea capacity of six gallons

the maximum amount something can contain or absorb (esp in the phrase filled to capacity)
(as modifier)a capacity crowd

the ability to understand or learn; aptitude; capabilityhe has a great capacity for Greek

the ability to do or produce (often in the phrase at capacity)the factory's output was not at capacity

a specified position or functionhe was employed in the capacity of manager

a measure of the electrical output of a piece of apparatus such as a motor, generator, or accumulator

electronics a former name for capacitance

computing

the number of words or characters that can be stored in a particular storage device
the range of numbers that can be processed in a register

the bit rate that a communication channel or other system can carry

legal competencethe capacity to make a will

Word Origin for capacity

C15: from Old French capacite, from Latin capācitās, from capāx spacious, from capere to take

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for capacity

early 15c., from Middle French capacité "ability to hold" (15c.), from Latin capacitatem (nominative capacitas) "breadth, capacity, capability of holding much," noun of state from capax (genitive capacis) "able to hold much," from capere "to take" (see capable). Meaning "largest audience a place can hold" is 1908.

capacity in Medicine

capacity

[kə-păs′ĭ-tē]

n.

The measure of potential cubic contents of a cavity or receptacle; volume.

Ability to perform or produce; capability.